Day One Results (PDF)

Marshall, MO – Cumberlands men's wrestling tallied 92 points on the first day of competition at the Missouri Valley Invite to position themselves inn second place, Friday night.  The Patriots had four wrestling advance in the championship bracket and three still alive in the consolation rounds on Saturday, which is set to begin at 10 am (ET).

In the championship rounds, the Pats have Austin Franco, Bryce Nickel, Gabe Jacobs, and Aaron Johnson, who all went 3-0 in their respective weight class. Franco, the fifth-ranked 125-wrestler in the NAIA, got his wins by fall in 2:16, a 19-3 tech fall, and a 7-1 decision over 18^th-ranked Esua Bazilme (Southeastern).

Sixth-ranked Nickel got one win in a quick fall over Cole Fort of Campbellsville, before posting decisions over Southeastern's Chris Kelly and Marian's Aundre Beatty (3-2) in the 141 bracket. Nickel will face seventh-ranked Edrich Nortje of Hastings in the semifinals. 

In the 197 bracket, 12^th-ranked Jacobs got all three of his wins by fall with all of the falls came in less than two minutes.  Jacobs opened against Izaiah Ieramia (Waldorf), before needing just 1:31 to finish off Darius Mynar of Simpson to advance to the quarterfinals.  In the quaterfinals, Jacobs recorded a fall at the 1:39 mark over Amrit Singh (Menlo).  He will face tenth-ranked Jack Servies of Marian in the semifinals.

Then in the 285 bracket fifth-ranked Johnson opened with a 8-1 decision over Excell Brooks (Marian).  Johnson followed that up with a 10-5 over Spencer Dacus (Life), before needing only 21 seconds to record a fall over Chris Alvizures of Midway. 

In the bloodrounds, DeVaughn Sapien went 3-1 in the 125 lbs., Weston Milnes went 2-1 in 165 lbs., and Harold Gilmore went 3-1 at 184 lbs. All three suffered their only losses to top-11 ranked opponents. Sapien opened the day strong with three straight decision wins, including a 5-2 decision over 17^th-ranked Brayden Bradley (Missouri Valley) to advance to the quarterfinals, where he fell to ninth-ranked CaRon Watson (Briar Cliff) in a 5-2 decision.

In his first action of the season, Milnes got his two wins from falls, and his loss came from third-ranked Elliott Rodgers (Marian). Both of Milnes falls came in the first period against Montana State's Devin Crawford (1:29) and Missouri Valley's William Seibert (2:14).

Gilmore opened the tournament falling to 11^th-ranked Niko Perovic (William Baptist) in a 6-3 decision.  He rebounded and rattled off three straight wins to remain alive in the consolation bracket.  After advancing on an injury forfiet, Gilmore posted a 7-2 decion over Jaden Sonner (Campbellsville) and a 3-1 decision over Nick Brandt (Indiana Tech).

Looking at day two, all seven wrestlers have solidified at least a top eight finish in their respective classes. For the team score, UC is trailing first place Grand View by one point and is ahead of third place Life by 7.5 points.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter- @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, YouTube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.